Reluctance or stubbornness in ending impulsive actions can have consequences. In the Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger’s inability to halt her dangerous habits put her and others’ lives in dangerous situations. Three main examples of Liesel’s dangerous activities are when she steals books, when she demonstrates kindness at improper times, and when she disrespects others for her own selfish reasons. In all these examples, there is always one moment where Liesel places her or others in harm’s way and narrowly escapes punishment. Every time Liesel steals books from people, she consistently places the lives of others at risk. An example of this is when Liesel is worried about Max dying and wants to steal a book and read it to him in hope that he will get better. Stealing books is her stubborn addiction. In addition, she is accompanied by Rudy, endangering his life as well. The mayor could have easily informed the police about Liesel stealing his books and she would have been severely punished. This danger, which Liesel takes just to get what she wants, is proven when her best friend Rudy Steiner says, “You didn’t go in for food, did you? You got what you wanted…” (Page 289). The quote demonstrates how Liesel would do anything just to get a book, even if it meant lying to her friend and putting them both in danger. Another example of Liesel dangerous book-stealing habit is during the bonfire where the books were being burnt. This part is very early on in the novel and is where Liesel steals her second book, The Shoulder Shrug. Stealing at the bonfire was extremely dangerous as these books were meant to be destroyed. Anyone caught trying to remove one of these books would have been severely punished or lashed. The severity o... ... middle of paper ... ... Liesel’s family would have also been affected. It is times like this where Liesel should have learned to control her actions towards those more powerful than her as she and those around her could have been punished. It is clear that Liesel is a character for which her stubbornness and reluctance to discontinue bad actions places her and others in dangerous situations. Her habit of stealing books, her misinterpreted kindness towards Max, and her attitude towards seniors and officials are all examples of Liesel’s defiance to do whatever she pleases regardless of the consequences or dangers. Had Liesel been less stubborn and listened to her elders more, she would have been in much less danger and people around her would be safe as well. Therefore, thinking before acting upon impulse is extremely important – it ensures what you do does not endanger yourself or others.
The book had so much power to it. One day, on Himmel street, the town had to get out and go to the shelter. All of the people who lived on Himmel Street were scared because there was a chance their street could get blown up by a bomb. Courageous Liesel pulled out the book, The Whistler. Liesel was sitting in the shelter and started to read the book out loud. “By page three, everyone was silent but Liesel” (Zusask 381) Liesel trapped all of the people's nervous and scared selfs to herself calm voice. The book was a power of silence. The common theme that connects the book Liesel has stolen is that the each book tell a chunk of her
Strong feelings towards another can lead to imprudent actions. Throughout The Book Thief Liesel, Rudy, and Hans make impetuous decisions due to their strong emotions towards another. From reading this novel one can conclude that there is a very fine line between irrationality and bravery. Most of the decisions and subsequent actions made in the story could be regarded as brave but in truth many of these decisions were impetuous and ill thought out. In fact many of the characters subsequently came to this conclusion as well. The characters could have achieved more by executing logically planed actions instead of acting on the spur of the moment and jeopardizing their lives or the lives of others. It is amazing that even polar opposites emotions like love and hate result in the same irrational consequences as exemplified by Rudy, Hans and Liesel.
10.The Book Thief: Liesel writes this book, and it saves her life when she goes down into the basement to revise it, and is protected from the bombs.Liesel writes the book to explain everything she went through. She loses it after the bombing, but death picks it up, and shows it to her when she dies.
To begin, I personally don’t believe Liesel is wrong for stealing a book from the bonfire because it was going to be destroyed anyways. It shouldn’t harm or have a huge impact on someone else. The book could have been thrown out by someone who did not want it anymore. Her family cannot really afford books and Liesel is
This realization, although suspected by the narrator for a long time, shows the true irony of Liesel’s thefts: that she never needs to steal them. When she steals her last book, The Last Human Stranger, she even takes a plate of cookies and leaves a note. Although none of these books are featured as heavily as her first few thefts, their titles reference parts of Liesel’s struggles such as her relationship with Max, her role in uplifting her community in the bunker, her continuing education, and her status being the only survivor of the final bombing. In conclusion, the books which Liesel steals are very influential in her development through the course of the novel, with the titles themselves references other parts of her life.
Stealing books is not right but it is also unusual. Stealing books in Nazi Germany is unusual. Stealing is illegal which could cause Death to be haunted by humans. “Liesel stood in the mayor’s library with greed in her fingers and book titles at her lips” (Zusak 365). When Liesel is trying to find a book to steal in the mayor’s library, she gets the feeling
However, three ethical decisions that this learning will make after viewing the film is to always assist individual to the best of your ability, despite personal issues with loved ones or friends; next, always report crimes, no matter the consequence they may have; and last but not least, stand up for what’s right, even if it leads to misfortune. The pros of each of these decisions is peace within yourself. However, one of the cons is dealing with negative pressures. For example, when you report a crime, you may be summoned to court, and have to deal with the negative criticism.
Fellow classmates in Liesel’s class mock her because she didn’t read the passage he was instructed to read. This shows Liesel experiences unhappiness because of her lack of reading and the power of words.
Liesel experiences abandonment throughout her life, and the novel during a suppressed time in World War II Germany. Through her experiences Liesel’s learns to equate abandonment with love knowing that circumstance have forced her loved ones to leave her.
Suffered the loss of her brother werner, while attending his funeral “there was something black and rectangular lodged in the snow. Only [liesel] saw it. She bent down and picked it up and held it firmly in her fingers. The book had silver writing on it” (zusak 24). It was a book named “the grave digger 's handbook”. This proves that without even understanding the book Liesel was already looking for ways to learn and find a passion to mourn her brothers death. Next, is the relationship Liesel has with her papa, Hans. He shows Liesel how to read and write. Liesel, who doesn 't know how, grabs books that Hans then quietly shows her to translate. He does this through their night time nightmare hours “Unofficially, it was called the midnight class, even though it commenced at around two in the morning” (70). furthermore in the storm cellar, utilizing Hans ' paints to show her how to compose. He is staggeringly understanding, as this is an extremely troublesome and moderate procedure, and he never demonstrates restlessness or dissatisfaction with Liesel 's moderate advancement, thus proving that liesel stuck with her idea and followed through with her passion. Lastly, Liesel 's passion for reading and writing progressed when Ilsa gave her the a journal to write her story in, “[she] thought if [Liesel was not] going to read anymore of [her] books, [she] might like to write one instead.”
Guilt is a prevalent theme throughout The Book Thief. Liesel endures guilt multiple times, when she steals laundry money from Rosa, gets Max sick, verbally attacks Ilsa Hermann, and experiences the guilt of surviving. All of these acts caused Liesel to experience some sort of guilt which later causes her to perform questionable tasks.
The irony behind Liesel stealing books is that, Ilsa Hermann, the mayor’s wife intentionally leaves the window unlocked for her to climb in and take books while Liesel is oblivious to what Ilsa is doing. Ilsa allows Liesel to use her expansive library because if Liesel does not take and read the books they would just sit on the shelf wasting away. “Lately it’s you that gets the most use out of this room.” (Zusak 461) Another point of irony in Liesel stealing books is that while many people are starving for food Liesel is starving for words. Hitler builds the foundation of his mind-controlled country on poisonous manipulative words and
Liesel is shown to be suffering emotionally after her brother’s death, she was in disbelief and threw herself to the ground to try digging to her brother in hopes he would be alive, she only did this because her emotions were so unstable and she didn’t want to believe the truth. The fact Liesel was emotionally suffering after her brother’s death is evident when the author wrote, “Still in disbelief, she started to dig. He couldn't be dead, He couldn't be dead, He couldn’t --” (23). The thought Liesel had that her brother could not have been dead proves that she was not able to handle her thoughts and emotions. Which is clear that her emotions were all over the place and she was emotionally suffering. Since Liesel's emotions were all over the place and put her through a lot of emotional thoughts and actions she is a second example of a character who suffers
Even though the style of writing is simple and direct, it does a good job conveying the different themes of the story, including the different conflicts between politics and religion, separation of families, death, and etc. The power of words is shown as soon as Liesel learns how to read. Her will for prosperity and curiosity becomes more powerful with every word she learns. She realizes that words, through cruel and wicked manners, can be impact people to force acts of brutality. During the burial of her baby brother, she finds her first book, the grave digger’s manual. Even though liesel couldn’t read at the moment, she knows the memories its words
By seeing the honorable actions of loyal people going unrewarded, Hosseini teaches readers that blind loyalty towards another without the thought of repercussions can lead to serious consequences, causing readers to question whether their loyalties are sensible.